ACTING Chief Justice, Mr. Ian Chang, S.C., has blocked a move to stop the long awaited Amaila Falls hydro-power project from going ahead, noting, among other things, that it is important to the public welfare and development of the country. He earlier this week declined to issue orders of Certiorari and Prohibition sought by Management Consultant Ramon Gaskin to derail the scheme which is about to get off the ground after initial plans since 1996.
Gaskin had set out to prevent the government from awarding a US$15M contract to Synergy Holdings Inc., to design and build roads and stream/river crossings for the scheme. The application was refused.
Mr. Chang said: “The court is unable to persuade itself that the issue of writs of Certiorari and Prohibition would be for the public good in light of the importance of the  hydro electric project to the public welfare and development of the country.
“The execution of the project by Synergy Holdings Inc. may warrant close monitoring but the need for such monitoring does not provide a sufficient basis for the exercise of the court’s discretion to issue the Orders or Rules nisi of Certiorari and Prohibition as prayed.”
Accountant/newspaper columnist/lawyer Mr. Christopher Ram, who has also been critical of the Amaila Falls project, was on the legal team representing Gaskin. Other lawyers with him were Mr. Rex Mc Kay, S.C., Mr. Fitz L.R. Peters and Mr. Neil Boston.
The Chief Justice said: “It must be noted that while the affidavit in support of the motion is pregnant with alleged breaches of procedure, it is somewhat lacking in allegations of fact in support of those procedural breaches of law. The evidential deficiency in the affidavit evidence in support of the legal grounds for the application might have stemmed from the fact that the applicant was never personally acquainted with what transpired in the conduct of the entire tendering process.”
The Guyana Government has stated that given the importance of this project to the economic development of the economy, “what is at stake if we don’t develop our own hydro-power potential is the future of the development of Guyana’s economy through affordable, reliable, locally-sourced renewable energy.”
The government said the cost of the actual hydro power construction project that will deliver 154 MW at the Amaila site for transmission is just over US$306M and the cost of the transmission line, clearing the transmission line corridor and the road is about US$145 M.